ROSTOCK/LAAGE, GERMANY/GREVENMACHER, LUXEMBURG / September 18, 2023 – APEX Group (“APEX“), a leading developer and operator of ‘green’ hydrogen electrolysis plants for the decarbonization of industry, infrastructure and mobility and a 100% subsidiary of exceet Group SCA (ISIN LU0472835155), is expanding its management team as part of its growth strategy and has appointed Bert Althaus (45) as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) effective October 1, 2023. In his role, he will be responsible for the finances of the group and support the capital markets strategy as the basis for implementing the company’s growth strategy. Since its acquisition by exceet Group SCA in January 2023, APEX Group has significantly expanded both its portfolio of milestone projects in the German hydrogen market and its project pipeline. In addition, the strategy of becoming one of the leading decentralized suppliers of green hydrogen in Europe has been driven forward successfully, as highlighted by the planned construction of an electrolysis plant with a capacity of up to 600MW in Lubmin.
In his previous position as CFO at Autodoc SE, Bert Althaus was responsible for Finance, Supply Chain Management and Process & Project Management since 2021. With more than 5,000 employees, Autodoc SE has a turnover of around EUR 1 billion and operates online shops for car, truck and motorcycle spare parts in 27 European countries. From 2019 to 2021, he was CFO at the publicly listed company Spark Networks SE, where he was responsible for post-merger integration, SAP implementation, risk management and refinancing. Prior to that, from 2013 to 2019, he held the position of Senior Vice President Finance at Home24 SE, which is also listed on the stock exchange, where he was responsible for the IPO and organizational transformation as well as building up the Investor Relations department. After graduating with a degree in business management from the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Bert Althaus began his career at the auditing and consulting firm EY, where he most recently worked as a Manager in the Assurance & Advisory Business Services division.
Peter Rößner, CEO of APEX, said: ”Bert Althaus is the ideal addition to our management team. He brings extensive international experience in scaling and managing technology companies as well as excellent knowledge of capital markets. In addition, I am particularly pleased that he comes from the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, because APEX also has strong ties to its founding location in Rostock-Laage that are reflected in all of its expansion plans. Together, we want to kick-start a new industrial revolution for Germany and Europe from our home base.”
Bert Althaus: ”APEX is an ambitious, fast-growing technology company with a proven ability to finance and design major international projects and plants in the field of hydrogen. Hydrogen is an essential energy carrier in the global decarbonization of the industrial sector. APEX is one of the few companies in the world to offer plants with a proven track record for the production of green hydrogen on an industrial scale and is therefore in demand for hydrogen projects throughout Europe. I am therefore looking forward to bringing my previous experience with large investment projects and investors to APEX, a young company in a fast-growing and particularly exciting environment that is expanding very quickly.”